EMPATHY SUPPER – BERDIKARI / SŌYDIVISION

In the organizer's words:

As part of the Mouth Archives project, which explores the mouth as a site of memory and exchange, Ariel Orah and Asarela Dewi (sōydivision) invite you to a performative and cinematic dinner experience characterized by thoughtfulness, resilience and diasporic survival with Empathy Supper - Berdikari.

The two artists, who came to Germany in 2012, use this coming together to look back on a decade of shared experiences in the diaspora: grappling with identity, cultural negotiations and the often present mistrust of institutions. In a time characterized by several crises simultaneously - economic uncertainty, climate catastrophe and the lingering effects of colonialism - a complex interplay of trust and doubt determines our everyday lives and social structures. Berdikari - an Indonesian word that means "to stand on one's own two feet" - becomes a practice of self-determination and collective care in times of uncertainty and exclusion.

With food, sound and cinematic storytelling, this communal meal transforms recipes into living archives of memory and the table into a space for lived memory. What stories do we carry in our bodies, in our mouths? How do shared meals help us to process the tension between trust and mistrust - and how can they support us as we walk together into an uncertain future?

The event will be held in English.

ENG: Responding to Mouth Archives' exploration of the mouth as a site of memory and exchange, Empathy Supper - Berdikari by Ariel Orah and Asarela Dewi (sōydivision) offers a performative and cinematic dining experience rooted in reflection, resilience, and diasporic survival.

Both artists, who migrated to Germany in 2012, use this gathering to revisit a decade of shared diasporic experience - navigating identity, cultural negotiation, and institutional distrust. In the context of today's overlapping polycrises - economic instability, climate emergency, and the enduring legacies of colonialism - a complex dialectic of trust and suspicion shapes both everyday life and structural systems. Berdikari (Indonesian for "standing on one's own feet") becomes a practice of self-reliance and collective care amid uncertainty and exclusion.

Through food, sound, and cinematic storytelling, this supper reimagines recipes as living archives and the table as a space for embodied memory. What stories do we carry in our bodies, in our mouths? How do shared meals help us process the tension between trust and suspicion - and how might they support us in co-navigating uncertain futures together?

The event will be held in English.